East St. Louis (Ill.) High School has already been kind to the University of Kentucky football program in 2010, as the Wildcats have already landed the verbal commitment of defensive back Glen Faulkner to the class of 2011.

Faulkner has already drawn rave reviews from scouts this spring and his stock continues to rise.

Joker Phillips and his staff, meanwhile, are hoping that lightning strikes twice in Illinois, as they hope the lure of playing with Faulkner will help them land prized defensive tackle teammate Clint Tucker.

UK, who has struggled with landing high profile defensive lineman of late, hopes that it can break out of its slump by landing Tucker, a 6-foot-2, 285-pound playmaker that considers himself, "an all-around athlete."

The staff recently hosted Tucker on an unofficial visit to campus this spring.

"It was real nice," Tucker said of his trip to Lexington. "I thought the visit went fine. The coaching staff was real nice and I liked the campus a lot."

Tucker has plenty of company for his services, as the Wildcats are just one of many in pursuit. As generally is the case, good defensive line recruits are a premium in football recruiting, especially early.

"I heard that the ones that are recruiting me right now are Indiana, Illinois, the University of Kentucky, Kansas, and Michigan State University," Tucker explained.

One team has, in some form, already seperated themselves from the pack.

"If I had to pick one right now I'd say the University of Kansas," Tucker explained. "I love the weight room facility. I love the 4-3 defense that they run, and I'd like to stay closer to home and Kansas is not that far away from home."

Two schools that Tucker is hopeful to catch some attention from are Alabama and Ohio State. Both schools have not been in contact, however, to date. The most important thing for the 2011 prospect is signing a college scholarship in February.

"I want to focus on either law and business or culinary arts," Tucker said in an earlier interview on the Rivals.com network. "I like cooking and being able to make meals for myself and my family in the kitchen. Academics are going to be a major part of my decision for sure."

As will the opportunity to play in a defense that highlights his abilities and strengths. "The type of defense that they run is going to be a huge part of my decision," Tucker added.